Why a residential school for girls?

The plans for Yuwa School’s new campus include a college preparatory academy, top-shelf sport and nutritional facilities, and dormitories to provide a safe space to live and study.

The opportunity to dream

In Jharkhand, girls are seen as a burden to their families, but our
school lets them experience childhood and life as they deserve it.
Yuwa girls learn to fulfill their potential and envision their future
without the hinderance of bias that their families and society imprint on them.

The [new Yuwa School campus] is very important for me... If I am at the hostel, maybe my family will think less of marriage and I can focus on my dream.

—Manisha (Yuwa School student)

By the Numbers

Each year our campus will provide community, education and housing for students, teachers, staff and
visitors. In addition to creating a safe learning environment for our students, this facility will
allow us to continue recruiting exceptional educators from across India and all over the world.

safe housing for...150

startup enrollment300

future enrollment600

Join us

This school is the next big step.
We’ve used soccer to bring girls together to build confidence and a community—and a counter-culture where it’s cool to be an ambitious girl.
But the girls of Yuwa need tools that are not available to them in any other school in Jharkhand. From the very beginning, a residential Yuwa School was their own idea.

We’re raising $900,000 (₹5.8 crore) to make the new Yuwa School a reality. Join us.

Fundraise

Donate

About Yuwa

Yuwa, which means "youth" in Hindi, works specifically with girls from impoverished families in rural Jharkhand, India—a place where girls are at risk of child marriage and human trafficking. It is a program that uses team sports and education to build character, confidence, and courage. It is a place where girls who don't yet know their worth can meet to compete, achieve goals, and create brighter futures. Yuwa prepares girls to break the cycle of poverty—permanently.

Keep Reading

Yuwa was founded in 2009 when American Franz Gastler moved to Jharkhand from Delhi, where he had been working as a business consultant, and witnessed the striking disparity between the lives of girls and boys. He began to help girls challenge this inequality through team sport and education.

What started with one team quickly grew to several hundred girls. Today, more than 300 girls play each day on Yuwa's teams, making it one of the largest girls’ soccer programs in India, with 90 percent of teams coached by young women. Teams play on unused agricultural fields and any flattened piece of ground they can find.

In 2015 Rose Thomson (now Rose Gastler) founded Yuwa School, a premier school to give girls the tools they need to become empowered citizens, discover their own identity, and prepare for admission to universities in India and abroad. Girls age 6 to 18 in Yuwa School are taught in English, learn from world-class educators from India and abroad, and are supported by a long list of dedicated volunteers.

What sets Yuwa apart? Girls in Yuwa gain the tools and support they need to truly take control of their own lives in the face of extreme adversity. We teach life and leadership skills, and then provide the opportunities to earn scholarships, respect, and income as coaches and mentors. Today, more than 30 girls in Yuwa have spoken at universities, TEDx events, and other conferences across India and around the world. Yuwa girls are inspiring girls in their communities, throughout India, and across the globe to know their own worth.